CESANA TORINESE, Italy — The Latvian two-man bobsled teams had forgettable weekends but were able to make up for it with more impressive results in the four man version the following day.

Latvian pilots Janis Minins and Edgars Maskalāns have so far posted satisfactory two-man results in the opening two rounds of competition but their fortunes were to change on their return to Europe.

Minins, partnered by Daumants Dreiškens were not able to mix it with the leaders, posting just the tenth quickest time on their first run and only the twelfth quickest on their second to finish the meet in the a disappointing 12th spot. The news was worse for Maskalāns and Raivis Broks, who were eliminated after the first run as a result of finishing outside of the top 20. Minins now slips back to 11th in World Cup standings whilst Maskalāns languishes in 22nd spot.

However, the news was more promising on Sunday as Maskalāns and Minins prepared to pilot their four-man sleds. In Latvia 1 Minins was again partnered by Dreiškens, along with Oskars Melbārdis and Intars Dambis. In Latvia 2, Maskalāns and Broks were joined by Mihails Arhipovs and Pavels Tulubjevs.

Latvia 1 were lightening quick on their first run to record the second quickest time of 55.76 seconds, to be sitting behind series leaders USA 1. Unfortunately, they were not able to improve on this run, producing a 55.91 to slip back to a still respectable fourth spot.

Latvia 2 were never going to be mixing it with the top teams but still posted solid times of 56.07 and 56.05 to end the day in twelfth spot.

Minins now sits third in the series on 586 points, 32 behind of series leader Steven Holcomb of the U.S. and just seven points behind second-placed Lyndon Rush of Canada. Maskalāns is sitting just outside the top ten in eleventh position with 408 points.